A year on, Irsalwadi survivors seek to be on firm ground

A year after Irsalwadi a tranquil village near Khalapur in Raigad was wiped off the face of Earth the survivors still await homes which were supposed to be ready within 90 days as per the then chief ministerrsquo assurance As July 19 marks the first anniversary of the tragedy which claimed 84 lives only 33 out of 44 tenements are almost ready to occupy while finishing works in remaining houses are still underway This raises concerns about effective disaster rehabilitation in a time bound manner The district administration felt that the work would be completed by July 31 and hoped that the handing over of house keys may happen on August 15 in the presence of the Chief MinisterIrsalwadi Rehabilitation siteThe state government had approved and allotted 65 acres of land in Survey 27 Manivali village Chouk Panchayat of Khalapur for rehabilitation of Irsalwadi landslide survivors The spot is approximately 1 km from the original Irsalwadi village at the foothills of Irsalwadi fortMaharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited MSRDC the planning authority for the said land in Manivali village approved the Development Plan on August 8 2023 and sent the muchrequired layout plan of the proposed site for construction to the collector RaigadNew houses being constructed for Irsalwadi survivors are almost completeForty four homes were to be constructed under the supervision of sole nodal agency CIDCO Each survivor would have been entitled to a one BHK selfcontained dwelling constructed using RCC protection spread on 3 gunthas approximately 3267 sq ft of land said a senior official from the districtUnlike Taliye Varcha Aawad in Mahad landslide rehabilitation work which had multiple agencies leading to interdependence For instance MHADA Konkan Board was only involved with the construction of homes whereas the utility and infrastructure including setting up of Anganwadi School community temple internal roads water connection water storage tanks sewage and sanitation electric power connection etc were to be provided by zilla parishad irrigation department and MSEDCL etc But in the case of Irsalwadi CIDCO will be the sole nodal agency said the officialWork almost completeldquoWe have completed almost 9037 of the work out of 44 tenements 35 tenements are complete while minor works are left in the remaining tenements that will also be ready soon We have already allotted the houses to the survivorsrdquo said Raigad district Collector Kishan JawaleHe said ldquoWe are anticipating the entire work to be completed by July 31 and handing over of the keys may happen anytime thereafter on the availability of the state ministersrdquoAnd on being asked if the date could be August 15 the collector replied ldquomay berdquoThe layout sanctioned by MSRDC for the construction of homes for survivors of IrsalwadiCondolence programme to mark first anniversaryAs a mark of respect to remember the victims of Irsalwadi landslide the district administration has organised a condolence programme on FridayKhalapur tehsildar Ayub Tamboli said ldquoWe have arranged for a small Shradhanjali programme at the site of temporary shelters containers provided to the survivors at ChoukrdquoAnd on the status of construction work he said ldquoThe major construction work is by and large completed the remaining work is underway we will wait for the government decision to officially hand over the possessionrdquoSurvivors received compensationAll the survivors and next of kin have received the compensation announced by the government Jagdish Pardhi 25 lost five people from his family which included his mother Thami 45 son Kiniya 5 and three members including his cousin Pankaj and his family Pankajrsquos son Harshal 11 is the sole survivorWe have received R7 lakh towards each of the persons declared dead but in one case we have only received R5 lakh instead of R7 lakh which we have brought to the notice of the officials but the issue has not been sorted out till now said Jagdish The money had been transferred to the bank accountldquoWe have been allotted our house numbers my house number is 18 while it is 19 for Harshal though we havenrsquot got the possession as yet as internal and external work is pendingrdquo said JagdishCould have made better homesMost of the survivors claim that they visited the location where the new houses are being constructed Madhav Maruti Sutak 25 said ldquoPrior to the tragedy we had two BHK homes with a huge hall and we had sufficient space inside But the new RCC structures are only one BHK with a small hall and smaller bedroom The house on a 3guntha plot would have cost R25 lakh plus However we had redone our homes in Irsalwadi and it was designed in such a way that there was sufficient ventilation and natural lights throughout the year which is not the case in the new house number 29 near a mango treerdquo He said that most of the work is incomplete ldquoWe could have designed our homes better as per our requirement and traditional layoutsrdquo he saidSantosh Thakur founder president of Gram Sanvardan Shamajik Sanstha an NGOUnfulfilled PromisesSantosh Thakur founder president of Gram Sanvardhan Samajik Sanstha working for tribal welfare in Raigad district said ldquoThe delay in providing homes even after a year is not the fault of the Chief Minister but it is the utter failure of local administration who failed to execute the same within the stipulated time period There have been numerous instances in the past where tall promises were made for tribal welfare and upliftment but the fact that tribals are even today struggling for availing their basic human rights clearly indicates that they are deprived of government announced schemes for tribal welfare even todayrdquoThakur demanded that the youngsters who lost everything in the landslide should be provided with jobs at the earliest but irrespective of such an assurance from the local district administration till date none of the survivors have got jobsCause for concernIrsalwadi in Khalapur and Taliye Varcha Aawad in Mahad both villages are in Raigad district they both experienced major landslide many were buried alive and entire village is under the rubbles but one common aspect that has left even the district administration worried is that they were not in the list of nine highrisk landslide prone villages out of 103 villages in Raigad districtPopular amongst trekkersIrsalwadi village on the foothills of Irsalwadi Fort Khalapur tehsil had 49 houses with 43 families and a headcount of 219 In one night the population had been reduced to 144 The village was also home to cattle and goats some of which survived the tragedy The site is popular amongst the trekkers from Mumbai Thane Navi Mumbai Pune and neighbouring citiesThe villagers would cultivate rice and grow few vegetables in the open area and some of them were running refreshment joints and weekend mess for the trekkers Some men would even work as private labourers on daily wages and would sell vegetables in markets in Chouk and some would go to Panvel market area in hope of finding workTrekking season ndash extra incomeMadhav who studied till Std XII was running a successful weekend mess for trekkers like others in the village on their way to Irsalwadi Fort and on their return would halt at the village for refreshments and lunch His mother and wife would do the cooking and brother would assist in running the mess charging a vegetarian lunch plate for R155 and nonvegetarian food plate for over R200 He would earn a few thousand rupees and the monsoon would be the peak season for trekkingldquoThis used to be our business season as trekkers in large numbers would usually start coming to Irsalwadi Fort from the first week of June and the season would continue till Diwali And the number of trekkers would gradually reduce for the rest of the monthsrdquo he saidNew homes being constructed for the survivors of IrsalwadiOnly house entitlement Madhav said ldquoWe have not lost any members in our family so we are not entitled for the compensation of R7 lakh given to the next of kin of the deceased As we are amongst those who have lost their house in the landslide we will be getting a house when it is readyrdquo Madhavs parents are working as farm labourers earning a daily wage of Rs 300Rs 350 ldquoThe state government has assured us to provide us with a job but even after submitting their resumes about a dozen times I have not got any work I am forced to work as a labourer at a nearby construction site which doesnrsquot pay wellrdquo he saidMother saved our livesMadhav who studied till Std XII said that his family was lucky to have survived the landslide but they lost their house cash and gold jeweler worth over a lakh Madhav recalled ldquoIt was raining heavily on the fateful night and it was his mother who heard a loud noise She opened the rear door to find a huge rock had damaged our neighbourrsquos house she alerted us and we rushed out within minutes the landslide had happened My mother saved our lives but we lost 12 of our relatives whose bodies were never recovered from the debrisrdquoSurvivors still have nightmaresMany of the survivors continue to have nightmares of the fateful night Jagdish Pardhi and Madhav both admitted that many elders in the community who witnessed the disaster find it difficult to accept and are unable to sleep ldquoOn July 5 evening many survivors had a chilling recall of the landslide experience as it was raining very heavily similar to the one that they had experienced on the fateful night They feared a repeat of the landslide and many could not sleep Also the containers do not have water filters and solar panels installed at times do not work making it difficult to get geyser water in the morningrdquo a survivor saidMental health support and counselingDr Bharat Vatwani a Ramon Magsaysay Award winner and psychiatrist said ldquoEvents such as these are psychologically uprooting and hurting The hurt the anger the loss the why did this have to happen to me ruminations and nightmarish flashbacks will continue to surface in the landslide victims not just in the first anniversary of the event but for some more years to come I hope and pray that professional counseling and the necessary support is available to them in their time of need and they do not feel let down and forgotten by society around them compounding their psychological trauma and woesrdquo